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Republic of Chile República de Chile | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1925–1973 | |||||||||||
.svg) | |||||||||||
| Capital | Santiago | ||||||||||
| Common languages | Spanish | ||||||||||
| Demonym | Chilean | ||||||||||
| Government | Unitarypresidential constitutionalrepublic | ||||||||||
| President | |||||||||||
• 1925 | Arturo Alessandri Palmafirst | ||||||||||
• 1970–1973 | Salvador Allende Gossenslast | ||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||
| 18 September 1925 | |||||||||||
| 11 September 1973 | |||||||||||
| Currency | Chilean peso(1925-1960) Chilean escudo(1960-1973) | ||||||||||
| ISO 3166 code | CL | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
Part ofa series on the |
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| History ofChile |
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| Timeline •Years in Chile |
Parliamentary period
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Presidential period |
Military dictatorship |
ThePresidential Republic (Spanish:República Presidencial) is the period in thehistory of Chile spanning from the approval of the1925 Constitution on 18 September 1925, under the government ofArturo Alessandri Palma, tothe overthrow of thePopular Unity government headed by the PresidentSalvador Allende on 11 September 1973. The period is concurrent with the "Inward Development" (Desarrollo hacia adentro) period inChilean economic history.
Headed by ColonelMarmaduque Grove, left-wing troops deposed theSeptember Junta in the1925 coup, and handed power to GeneralPedro Dartnell as interim president, with the hope of recallingArturo Alessandri Palma from exile. Dartnell, however, decided to form another junta, theJanuary Junta, which ended with Alessandri's return on March 20, 1925. Alessandri had a new Constitution drafted, and approved in areferendum by 134,421 voters on August 30. The Constitution, which was promulgated on September 18, 1925, reinforced presidential powers over the legislature. Furthermore, Alessandri created aCentral Bank, initiating the first rupture withclassical liberalism'slaissez faire policies.[1]
Alessandri's second government began with the support of left-wing and radical groups. However, this second group began to distance itself from the President. In March 1925, Alessandri's government repressed a demonstration, leading to theMarusia massacre (500 deaths), soon followed byLa Coruña massacre on June 5, 1925.
Henceforth, Alessandri encountered opposition from his ownMinister of Defence, ColonelCarlos Ibáñez del Campo who had also participated to the January 1925 coup and also enjoyed support from the masses. Alessandri wanted to run only one official candidate in the presidential election — himself — while Ibáñez gave his support to amanifesto drafted from various political parties which called on him to run as a candidate. This crisis led to the cabinet's resignation.
Ibáñez then published an open letter to the President, recalling him that he could only issuedecree through his approbation, as he was the only minister of the cabinet. Alessandri then decided to nominateLuis Barros Borgoño asMinister of Interior, and resigned a second time from the presidency on October 1, 1925.[2]
This break with the working classes caused Alessandri to try to maintain a right-wing-radical alliance until 1937, when it took a turn towards the left.
Alessandri's resignation prompted Ibáñez to convince the parties to find a common candidacy, as required by Alessandri.Emiliano Figueroa Larraín, the candidate of theLiberal Democratic Party, was thus chosen as the governmental candidate, and waselected in October 1925 with nearly 72% of the votes, defeatingJosé Santos Salas from theSocial Republican Worker's Union. Alessandri had been confronted by increased opposition from his popular Minister of Defence, Ibáñez. Both had struggled over the purging of thejustice apparatus, Ibáñez opposing in particular the President of theSupreme Court,Javier Ángel Figueroa Larraín, who was Emiliano's brother.
In February 1927, Ibáñez succeeded in being designated as Minister of Interior (who, in case of a vacancy in the presidency, would be designatedVice President of Chile - in the Chilean context effectively the designated acting president), and in convincing President Figueroa to resign in April 1927. Ibáñez thus took his place as vice president and called for elections. He ran against communistElías Lafertte, andwon in May 1927 with 98% of the vote.
Carlos Ibáñez's administration remained popular until the outbreak of theGreat Depression in 1931.[citation needed] He exerciseddictatorial powers and suspended parliamentary elections, instead naming politicians to the Senate and Chamber of Deputies himself.Freedom of press was restricted, 200 politicians were arrested or exiled (among whom were Alessandri and his former allyMarmaduque Grove), theCommunist Party was proscribed, and theworkers' movement repressed. Before these actions,Congress allowed Ibáñez torule by decree, finding support inMinister of FinancesPablo Ramírez.
In 1929, Ibáñez requested from Chile's political parties a list of their candidates for the general elections, in order to select for himself which ones would be permitted to campaign.[clarification needed] Ibáñez then traveled to the resort town ofTermas de Chillán, from where he selected members of both houses. The resulting legislative body which emerged from his choices became known as the “Congreso Termal.”[citation needed]
Ibánez's popularity was buoyed by loans from American banks, which helped to promote a high rate of growth in the country and the launching importantpublic works projects. He ordered the construction of canals, bridges, prisons, ports, thePalace of Cerro Castillo inViña del Mar, restoration of the façade ofLa Moneda, and increased public spending.[citation needed]
Ibáñez also reformed the police in 1927, merging the Fiscal Police, the Rural Police, and the Cuerpo de Carabineros into theCarabineros de Chile; he also appointed himself their first Director General. Ibáñez also created theChilean Air Force,LAN Airlines and theCOSACH.
In June 1929, Ibáñez signed theTreaty of Lima withPeru, wherebyChile agreed to returnTacna Province—which had been seized during theWar of the Pacific—to Peru in exchange for financial compensation.
Ibáñez's popularity diminished once the effects of theGreat Crash started to be felt in Chile at the end of 1930. The prices of saltpeter andcopper, on which theChilean economy depended, plummeted. As a result, all loans were halted and recalled. With no influx of foreign currency andprotectionist policies in the United States and Europe, Chile was nearly bankrupt.[citation needed] Tens of thousands of workers in the country's northern mines became unemployed within weeks.[citation needed]
Although Ibáñez's government increasedexport taxes to 71% and imposed restrictions onexit of devises, he did not thebalance of trade, leading to a depletion of Chile'sgold reserves. On July 13, 1931, Ibáñez named a "Cabinet of National Salvation" (Gabinete de Salvación Nacional) whose members includedPedro Blanquier andJuan Esteban Montero. Ibáñez's popularity dropped further as Blanquier's revelations on the state of Chile's finances were disseminated widely by Montero's relaxed censorship of the press.
Ibáñez's lavish public spending did not alleviate the situation; his opponents, primarily the exiled Grove and Alessandri, began to plan a comeback. Several conspiracies attempted to remove Ibáñez from power.[citation needed]
Public unrest followed, during which students from theUniversity of Chile andPontifical Catholic University of Chile protested, later joined by physicians and lawyers. Carabineros killed more than ten people,[citation needed] resulting in Ibáñez's resignation on July 26, 1931, followed by his exile the next day. Before leaving, Ibáñez designatedPedro Opazo as his successor; he, in turn, resigned in favor of Interior MinisterJuan Esteban Montero, a member of theRadical Party, who was proclaimed the new president by Congress.
Meanwhile, Alessandri had returned to Chile, and the presidential campaign began, with Alessandri running against Juan Montero.TheOctober 1931 Presidential election was this time won by theRadical candidate Montero, elected with 64% of the votes, defeating Alessandri, the candidate of theLiberals (35%).
A short time after his investiture in December 1931, President Montero was confronted by theEscuadra uprising, during which revolutionaries took some military ships and sank them in the Bay ofCoquimbo. Although the mutiny was peacefully resolved after the rebels' surrender, the fragility of the new government was exposed to the public. On June 4, 1932, planes fromEl Bosque Air Base fled over the presidential palace,La Moneda, leading to the resignation of Montero's cabinet. The putsch's leaders,Marmaduque Grove,Carlos Dávila andEugenio Matte, proclaimed theSocialist Republic of Chile.
Themilitary junta dissolved Congress, ordered to theCaja de Crédito Popular banking institution to return pawned objects to their owners and decreed three days of closure of the banks. The new junta was however deeply divided, and on June 16, 1932, less than two weeks after the coup, Carlos Dávila deposed Grove and Matte and deported them to the Easter Islands. Dávila proclaimed himself "provisional President" on July 8, 1932.
The Armed Forces did not support Dávila. On September 13, 1932, they forced him to cede power to his Minister of Interior, GeneralGuillermo Blanche Espejo, who was a supporter of ex-PresidentCarlos Ibáñez.
General Espejo, who was not keen on organizing elections, and who was in turn threatened with a mutiny from the garrisons ofAntofagasta andConcepción, ceded power to the President of the Supreme Court,Abraham Oyanedel, who called for elections. The center-right candidate,Arturo Alessandri, subsequently won 54% of the votes in theOctober 30, 1932 presidential election, defeating his still-exiled opponent Marmaduque Grove, who obtained 18%.
In order to see off the threats of a coup, Alessandri relied on the republican forces, trusted to repress any revolts and to not get involved in politics. They were created shortly before Alessandri's return, as a consequence of the civil movement. They functioned in secret and then publicly, marching in a great parade May 7, 1933 in front of the President, who saluted them. They disbanded in 1936, having considered their mission complete. The President asked the Parliament on several occasions to vote for astate of constitutional exception, resulting in actions such as the famous burning of the 285th issue of the satirical magazineTopaze, which published a caricature of Alessandri he considered offensive.
Such precautions were not without reason, especially considering the appearance of new violent movements, such as theNazi-inspiredNational Socialist Movement of Chile ofJorge González von Marées. In 1934, the rural rebellion ofRanquil was crushed, 477 workers andMapuches being killed during theRanquil Massacre in the upperBio-Bio River, which had recently been opened for Chilean and foreign settlers of theoccupation of the Araucania.[3]
In the economic sphere, the recovery from thecrisis of 1929 was begun with the work of Treasury MinisterGustavo Ross, a pragmatic liberal who implemented a "development inwards" approach to growth. With respect to nitrates, he dissolvedCOSACH and createdCOVENSA (Corporation of Nitrate and Iodine Sale), a multi-faceted distributor rather than a producer. He balanced the fiscal deficit with new taxes and resumed payment of the external debt, with losses for holders of Chilean bonds. When the government achieved a surplus, they focused on public works, most notably the construction of theNational Stadium in Santiago, inaugurated in December 1938.
TheRadical Party'sideology was rooted in the principles of the 1789French Revolution, upholding the values ofliberty,equality, solidarity, participation and well-being. It had been created in the middle of the 19th century as a response to the conservative liberals then in power, and mainly represented themiddle classes. It finally succeeded in gaining power as part of thePopular Front left-wing coalition, although its cabinets were fragile due to constantparliamentary instability.
The first Radical President,Pedro Aguirre Cerda, was a teacher and lawyer from the University of Chile, a perfect example of the socio-economic classes supporting the Radical Party. He waselected in 1938 as the candidate of thePopular Front, under the slogan "Gobernar es educar" ("to educate is to rule"). He narrowly defeated the conservative candidateGustavo Ross, mostly because of the political backlash caused by theSeguro Obrero Massacre which followed an attempted coup d'état by theNational Socialist Movement of Chile (MNS), intended to take down the rightwing government of Arturo Alessandri and place Ibáñez in power. The fascist MNS had merged into theAlianza Popular Libertadora coalition supporting Carlos Ibáñez, but after the attempted coup, Ibáñez opposed Ross, lending indirect support to Aguirre.
Pedro Aguirre Cerda promoted the development oftechnical-industrial schools as a means to promote the training of technicians for the nascent industrialization of the country. He also created thousands of new regular schools and the expanded the university system to cover the whole of the country.
A strongearthquake shook Chile on January 24, 1939, killing more than 30,000 people and destroying much of the infrastructure. Aguirre's cabinet thereafter created theCorporación de Fomento de la Producción (CORFO) to encourage an ambitious program ofimport substitution industrialization through subsidies and direct investments as well as launching important public works. At the same time, theEmpresa Nacional del Petróleo (ENAP) oil state company was created, as well asENDESA electricity company, theCompañía de Acero del Pacífico (CAP) steel holding and theIndustria Azucarera Nacional (IANSA) sugar company. This was the basis for the industrialization of Chile.
TheGerman–Soviet Non Aggression Pact of 1939 during the Second World War led to the dismantling of the left-wing coalition, as theComintern then abandoned the Popular Front strategy andanti-fascism in favour of advocating peace with Germany. However, following theinvasion of the Soviet Union byNazi Germany, theChilean Communist Party joined again the government.
During Aguirre's first year he had to face the military opposition to his plans, which boiled over with theAriostazo in August 1939, led by GeneralAriosto Herera and Ibáñez. The leaders of the attempted putsch, in particular General Herera, were strongly influenced byItalian fascism: Herera had served in Italy as amilitary attaché in the 1930s.
Aguirre also campaigned for aNobel Prize forGabriela Mistral, a campaign which achieved its objective under his successor,Juan Antonio Ríos. On September 3, 1939, 2,200Spanish Republican refugees landed inValparaíso on board of an old cargo ship, theWinnipeg, whose journey had been organized by the Special consul for Spanish emigration in Paris, the poetPablo Neruda.
In 1941 due to his rapidly escalating illness, Aguirre appointed his minister of the Interior,Jerónimo Méndez as vice-president, and died soon after, on November 25, 1941.
The left-wing coalition remained intact after President Aguirre's death, united by a common opponent, GeneralCarlos Ibáñez del Campo. TheDemocratic Alliance (Alianza Democrática) chose as its candidate a member of the conservative wing of the Radical Party,Juan Antonio Ríos, who defeated Ibáñez in theFebruary 1942 election, obtaining 56% of the votes. Ríos' presidency was marked by parliamentary instability, caused by rivalries between different political tendencies in his cabinet, and the renewed influence of Congress. TheChilean Communist Party opposed Ríos who had initially chosen neutrality and refused to break off diplomatic relations with theAxis powers, while the right-wing accused him of complacency regarding the Left. At the same time, theChilean Socialist Party accused him of being too laissez-faire regarding big business and criticized him for not passinglabour legislation to protect workers.
In 1944, the Radical Party presented a series of proposals to Rios, which he deemed unacceptable. Those included the break-off of relations withFrancoist Spain – diplomatic and especially economic pressure had caused him to finally break off relations with the Axis Powers in January 1943 – the recognition of the USSR and a cabinet exclusively composed of Radicals.
By breaking off relations with the Axis, President Ríos made Chile eligible for the United States'Lend-Lease program, and obtained loans necessary to help Chile's economic recovery. The close relations that developed with the United States were, however, problematic for him at home. Furthermore, his refusal to implement the Radical Party's propositions caused the resignation of all of the Radical ministers, leaving the President without a party. These internal divisions partly explained the right-wing success during the1945 legislative elections, which were a debacle for the Socialists and the Communists, who obtained close to no seats in Parliament. The Radicals themselves lost a number of seats.
Furthermore, the repression of riots onPlaza Bulnes in Santiago, leading to several deaths, gave further ammunition to critics of the President, and led to the resignation of members of the cabinet. Finally, shortly after the war, in October 1945, his entire cabinet resigned in protest of a state visit he made to Washington, DC. Economically, he faced labor unrest at home, brought about, in large part, by the drop incopper prices worldwide. Faced with terminalcancer, he gave up his presidential powers in January 1946 in favour of his Minister of the Interior,Alfredo Duhalde Vásquez, who acted as vice-president until his death on June 27, 1946.
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For the second time in five years, apresidential election was held on September 4, 1946, opposing theRadical candidateGabriel González Videla to the physicianEduardo Cruz-Coke as representative of theConservative Party,Bernardo Ibáñez for theSocialist Party andFernando Alessandri Rodríguez for theLiberal Party. The Radicals, who had chosen a member of its left-wing as their candidate, did not succeed in reviving theDemocratic Alliance left-wing coalition, as the Socialist Party decided to go it alone for the elections. However, the Radicals did ally themselves with the Communists, with the poet and Communist senatorPablo Neruda leading González's electoral campaign.
González was elected with 40% of the votes against 29% for the conservative candidate, Cruz Coke, and 27% for the liberal candidate Alessandri Rodríguez. Since González did not reach the necessary 50%, he had to be confirmed by Congress. He was duly confirmed on October 24 that year, following various negotiations between the parties, which led to the creation of a composite cabinet, including liberals, radicals and communists.
Once in the presidency, González had a fallout with the communists. Following the municipal elections, during which the Communist Party greatly increased its representation, the PCC demanded more cabinet seats, which González refused to grant. On the other hand, afraid of the success of the PCC, the Liberal Party withdrew from the cabinet. In June 1947, incidents during a strike affecting public transport in Santiago led to several casualties and the proclamation of astate of siege in the capital. In August and October 1947, various strikes occurred in thecoal mines in the South, jeopardizing the government. Finally, President González's travel to the region succeeded in restoring tranquility. A few days afterwards, the miners ofChuquicamata initiated another strike, prompting González to make increasing use of emergency laws.
Finally, under the pressure of the United States, González enacted aLaw of Permanent Defense of the Democracy (Ley de Defensa Permanente de la Democracia, aka known asCursed Law,Ley Maldita) which outlawed the Communist Party and banned more than 20,000 persons from the electoral registers. The detention center inPisagua, used during Ibañez's dictatorship (and which would also be used duringPinochet's dictatorship), was re-opened to imprison Communists, Anarchists and revolutionaries, although no detainee was executed this time. Prominent Communists, such as senatorPablo Neruda, fled intoexile. He also broke off diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union andWarsaw Pact states. A pro-communist miners'strike inLota was brutally suppressed. Demonstrations against what the communists calledla ley maldita ("the damned law") led to the declaration of martial law, but were successfully repressed.
González's new supporters, who approved of his anti-communist stance, were the two right-wing parties, theconservatives and theliberals. He assembled a new cabinet made up of conservatives, liberals, radicals, some socialists, and members of the smallDemocratic Party.
González's tough stance againstsocial movements led to protests, allegedly in an intent to repeat the events of theBogotazo in Colombia. However, these were quickly repressed, while González's government also had to confront, from the right, an attempted military coup which aimed at bringing backCarlos Ibáñez to power, thePig Trotters conspiracy (complot de las patitas de chancho), thus named because the coup leaders met in a restaurant which specialized in this Chilean dish. He immediately ordered an investigation and the arrest of the coup leaders, including the head of the operation, GeneralRamón Vergara. Ibáñez, however, was absolved of all responsibility.
In theparliamentary elections of 1949, the pro-government parties triumphed. However, the unity between right-wing parties and radicals and socialists did not last long. Radicals were unhappy with the economic policies of the right-wing Finance Minister,Jorge Alessandri, no matter how successful they were in controlling inflation. When a protest by government employees broke out in 1950, the radicals immediately declared their support for the protesters' demands. The right-wingers responded by resigning from González's cabinet.
By losing the liberal and conservative support, González lost the pro-government majority in Congress. He was of course unable to achieve much thereafter, but he did manage to make significant improvements in women's rights. González appointed the first female cabinet minister and the first female ambassador, and created theOficina de la Mujer.
Despite this political, social and economical instability, González's government did achieve some important successes, including the complete integration of women in political life, the remodeling of the city ofLa Serena, the development of an Antarctic policy with the creation of theAntártica Chilena Province – González was the first chief of state of any nation to visit Antarctica, and theGonzalez Videla Antarctic Base was named after him – and the determination along with Peru and Ecuador of the 200 nautical miles (370 km) of theExclusive Economic Zone.
Chile undertook an important economic transition after World War II. Due to theprotectionist policies of the Radical Governments and of their predecessors, a quite diverse, although not that strong, national industry had developed in the country, leading to a deep renewal of the economical and social structure of Chile. For the first time,agriculture ceased to be the primary productive sector, and was replaced by thesecondary sector (in particular by mining) and a primitiveservice sector.
On the other hand, the1952 presidential election displayed the Chilean political field as divided between three sectors, including the emerging centristChristian Democrat Party which had the support of a large spectrum of personalities. Furthermore, for the first time,women were granted the right to vote and stand for election.
Four main candidates ran in the1952 presidential election. On the right, the Conservative and Liberal parties endorsed the centristArturo Matte; the Socialist Party ranSalvador Allende, his first campaign for the presidency, while the Radicals supportedPedro Enrique Alfonso. Finally, GeneralCarlos Ibáñez again ran for the presidency as anindependent. He promised to "sweep" out political corruption and bad government with his "broom" and was nicknamed the "General of Hope". Apart from his criticisms of the traditional political parties, he remained vague in his proposals and had no clear position on thepolitical spectrum. He was elected on September 4, 1952, with 47% of the vote, and after Congress' ratification of his election, was invested on December 4, 1952.
Ibáñez's first issue was the1953 legislative elections, which he hoped would bring him a parliamentary majority. He was mostly supported by the right-wingPartido Agrario Laborista (PAL) and, in a lesser measure, by dissidents of the Socialist Party, who had formed thePopular Socialist Party, and some feminist political unions — the feministMaría De la Cruz was his campaign manager, but she then refused a ministerial office. He formed an initial cabinet which included contradictory figures, but despite this initial fragility, managed to win some successes in the 1953 elections. Despite the latter, he was still at the mercy of an unified opposition.
Ibáñez's second term was a very modest success. By that time he was already old and ailing, and he left government mostly to his cabinet. Elected on a program promising to put an end tochronic inflation in the Chilean economy, Ibáñez decided to freeze wages and prices, leading to stagnation of economic growth and in turn a relative increase in civil unrest. Inflation, however, continued, skyrocketing to 71% in 1954 and 83% in 1955.[citation needed] Helped by theKlein-Sacks mission, Ibáñez managed to reduce it to 33% when he left the presidency. During his term, public transport costs rose by 50% and economic growth fell to 2.5%.[citation needed]
Now much more of a centrist politically, Ibáñez won the support of many left-wingers by repealing theLey de Defensa de la Democracia (Law for the Defense of Democracy), which had banned theCommunist Party. However, in 1954, a strike in the copper mines extended itself to all of the country. Ibáñez tried to respond by proclaiming thestate of siege, but the Congress not only opposed this executive measure: it put immediately an end to it.
Some Chileans continued to support an Ibáñez dictatorship. Theseibañistas, most of whom were young army officers inspired by the ArgentinecaudilloJuan Domingo Perón, created theLínea Recta (Straight Line) group and thePUMA (Por Un Mañana Auspicioso) to establish a new dictatorship. Ibáñez met with these conspirators, but ultimately his typical lack of trust ended the plans for aself-coup. A scandal rocked the Ibáñez administration and the Armed Forces when the press revealed Ibáñez's meetings with these conspirators.
At the end of his presidency, Ibáñez also clashed with theFederación de Estudiantes de la Universidad de Chile (FECh) students' union because of his decision to increase the public transport fares. 20 people were killed and many more injured during demonstrations in April 1957.
This succession of problems led thePartido Agrario Laborista (PAL) to withdraw from Ibáñez's government, leaving him isolated. On the other hand, the Radicals, Socialists and Communists organized theFrente de Acción Popular (Front for Popular Action), presenting a common candidate to the presidency,Salvador Allende. Obtaining 29% of the votes in the1958 presidential election, he was narrowly defeated by the former Minister of Finances and son of the former PresidentArturo Alessandri Palma,Jorge Alessandri Rodríguez, who obtained 32% of the vote. Alessandri's election was narrowly ratified at the Congress by a right-of-center coalition. For the second consecutive time, the President of Chile was not a "traditional politician" figure.
Alessandri's narrow victory made the 1960 municipal elections decisive. Although the liberal-conservative coalition did not win these elections, it succeeded in having a score decent enough to face the left-wing opposition. Alessandri continued to receive their support after the1961 legislative elections, while the Radical Party entered the governmental coalition, leading the President to have control of both Chambers of Parliament, something which had not occurred in recent times.
Despite these electoral successes, Alessandri's tenure had to face two successive earthquakes, one on May 21, 1960, day of the inauguration of theparliamentary session, and another the following day, known abroad as theGreat Chilean earthquake, causing localtsunamis and leading to 2,000 to 5,000 dead. Cities such asPuerto Saavedra,Valdivia,Osorno,Puerto Montt andAncud were the most affected. Valdivia had to be completely evacuated following landslides threatening to block the outflow ofRiñihue Lake, leading to theRiñihuazo damming project.
Thousands of volunteers helped survivors in rebuilding local infrastructures, while the United States, Cuba, Brazil, France, Italy and other countries sent international aid. Chile's situation forced the state to accept the US conditions for the receiving of aid viaJohn F. Kennedy's assistance plan for Latin America, theAlliance for Progress, including the first steps of theChilean land reform. The disaster led to renewed inflation, and consequently to important strikes during 1961, followed by copper miners, teachers, physicians, banks and ports. Despite this, the country was retained as the host for the1962 FIFA World Cup, initially awarded to the country in 1956.
In the 1963 municipal elections, the liberal-conservative coalition lost many seats, while the Christian-Democrats and the FRAP (Socialists and Communists) made major gains.
For the first time in fifty years, a major new party appeared on the Chilean political scene, theChristian Democrat Party. On the right, the liberal-conservative coalition merged into theNational Party, opposed to all progressive change within and outside of the political scene.
In theSeptember 1964 presidential election, three candidates stood:Julio Durán on the right, representing theDemocratic Front of Chile, a center-right coalition gathering theLiberal Party, theConservative Party and theUnited Conservative Party which had participated in Alessandri's cabinet;Eduardo Frei Montalva for theChristian Democrat Party, and finallySalvador Allende for theFRAP left-wing coalition, unifying theSocialist Party and theCommunist Party. Fearing a victory of the Marxist candidate Allende, especially in the context of theUnited States embargo against Cuba decided in 1962, theCIA directly spent three million dollars to support the Christian Democrats during the electoral campaign, mostly throughradio and print advertising aimed at raising the "Red Scare" again.[4][5]
Eduardo Frei Montalva, who had been Minister of Public Works in 1945 inJuan Antonio Ríos's cabinet supported by the left-wingDemocratic Alliance, and presidential candidate in 1958, was elected in this atmosphere, six years later, with the slogan "Revolución en Libertad" ("Revolution in Liberty"). He won 56% of the votes, defeating Allende who received 39% of the vote, while the right-wing Liberal-Conservative candidate Julio Durán obtained less than 5%. Frei was sworn in on November 3, 1964.
Frei's administration began many reforms in Chilean society. "Promoción Popular" (Social Promotion), "Reforma Agraria" (agrarian reform), "Reforma Educacional" (education reform), and "Juntas de Vecinos" (neighborhood associations) were some of his main projects. He also took measures to rationalise drug supply.
Furthermore, in 1966, theRapa Nui ofEaster Island gained full Chilean citizenship. Easter Island had been annexed in 1888 by Chile. However, until 1953 the island had been rented to theWilliamson-Balfour Company as a sheep-farm, while the surviving Rapanui were confined to the settlement ofHanga Roa and the rest of the island managed by theChilean Navy, until its opening to the public in 1966.
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